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Scale Rules

Length Measures

Although shared words for units of measurement—typically body parts such as "hand" and "foot"—dated back to ancient times, the lengths of these units differed by local custom. By the 17th and 18th centuries, each European city had its own standard for length measures. Many places called this standard an "ell," although the spelling of the word varied. When this Museum opened in 1964, the curators collected original objects and reproductions to show how the mathematics of European daily life had been transported into American business and trade. One particular treasure is a pedometer made by Jacob Ramminger in Stuttgart, Germany, around 1600.

As national states unified formerly decentralized localities and as trade between different areas of Europe increased, governments made efforts to define national standards. The English lengths for the inch, foot, and yard were perhaps most prominent around the world, and they were utilized in the American colonies. In both the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution, the federal government reserved for itself the power to fix national weights and measures. Shortly thereafter, in the 1790s, scientists working for the French government developed the metric system, in which one meter represented one ten-millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the Equator. Although copies of metric standards were brought to the United States, Americans maintained a complicated relationship with the system of measurement. For instance, John Quincy Adams investigated the system in 1821; Charles Davies evaluated it again in 1867. Both men recommended that adoption of metric measurements be delayed since English units were so well established in American commerce.

In addition to examples of yard and meter standards from the 19th and 20th centuries and other efforts to promote the metric system, the collection has one of the rules Scottish Astronomer Royal Charles Piazzi Smyth distributed in an unsuccessful effort to prove that the system of measurement used by ancient Egyptians to build the pyramids correlated with the modern English system. There are also several rulers brought by the nation of Japan to the 1876 World's Fair to demonstrate its ability to adopt European units. Finally, this page contains some rules made by the notable American manufacturers Stanley and Lufkin and some rulers used in schools.

Laurits Christian Eichner (1894–1967) was a Danish engineer who married an American, Sarah Craven, and settled in Bloomfield, N.J., in 1925. During the Depression, he began marketing his skills as a metal craftsman, eventually branching out from bronze bowls and pewter tableware to replicas of historical scientific instruments and modern precision instruments, such as interferometers, astrophotometers, and telescopes. In the 1950s the Smithsonian hired him to restore and reproduce instruments and machines in preparation for the opening of the Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History).

Eichner's workshop made this octagonal wooden rule from an original at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. The larger end is marked: LCE (/) 1964. An ivory handle around the larger end has black geometric markings. Ivory plates on each side of the rule show the length of the ell, a traditional "arm's length" measurement, in eight German cities. (One plate is broken.) Each side also has rounded notches marking off divisions for each length of ell.

This brass yard standard and matrix are stored in a mahogany case with brass handles on either end and brass hooks to secure the lid, one of which no longer closes. The yard standard has extensions on either side which make it 104 cm (41") long. The yard fits into a matrix, which is divided into tenths, with the first division also divided into tenths. The yard and matrix each weigh 13 lbs., 4 oz. The case also contains 4 mahogany wedges and 3 mahogany rectangles, each less than 7 cm long. A scriber and square were originally in the case.

This yard standard is one of those distributed by the Treasury Department to the states after Congress set standard measures on June 14, 1833. Sets of weights were distributed to the states by 1838. Metric length standards were distributed to the states and to customhouses into the 1860s. The Bureau of Standards transferred this object to the Smithsonian in 1929.

The Stanley Rule and Level Company made this square maple meter stick around 1880 for the American Metric Bureau (AMB). The AMB intended to use the rule to teach the metric system—unlike other rules on the market that had both British and metric units, this one had only metric markings—but the AMB's secretary, Melville Dewey, also hoped to make his personal fortune from selling metric supplies. One side of the stick is plain. The next is divided along both edges to millimeters and numbered by tens of centimeters from 10 to 90. The next side is graduated in centimeters by alternate markings of black paint. It is numbered by tens from 10 to 90. The fourth side is divided into decimeters, with alternate decimeters in plain wood or black paint. It is numbered by ones from 1 to 9. The fourth decimeter is marked: AM. METRIC BUREAU (/) BOSTON. The sixth decimeter is marked: STANLEY RULE (/) & LEVEL Co. (/) NEW BRITAIN. CONN. Compare to 1990.3012.01.

This four-fold boxwood rule has a brass arch joint at the center and two brass hinges. Unfolded, it measures 31.2 cm W x 1.2 cm D x 0.5 cm H. Both sides are marked: No 32. The scales on both sides are numbered by ones from 11 to 1. On one side, the rule is divided to 1/16" along the top edge and to 1/12" along the bottom edge.

The other side is divided to 1/8" along the top edge and to 1/10" along the bottom edge. A brass caliper slides out from the right end of the rule. Both sides are divided to 1/16" and marked: 1, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4. The underside and the slot in the rule are also marked: 58. The divisions are all roughly made; the instrument does not appear to be machine-divided.

The Stanley Rule & Level Company of New Britain, Conn., offered model number 32 from 1859 to 1941. The shape of caliper jaw found on this instrument was introduced between 1888 and 1892. An illustration from a 1919 Stanley catalog indicates that the company name was stamped on the ruler by that time. A similar folding pocket rule with caliper is advertised as model number 1752 in Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 167. Its price was 60¢. The Department of Entomology at the National Museum of Natural History used this rule to study its collections.

This 25-foot metal tape measure is divided to 1/16". The first 3" of the tape has broken off, and white cloth tape is wrapped around the broken end. At 6" the back of the tape is marked: LUFKIN. A brown leather case is marked on both sides: RELIABLE JUNIOR (/) PATENTED (/) 25 FT (/) LUFKIN RULE CO. (/) SAGINAW, MICH. USA. Pressing a metal button on one side of the case causes the metal crank handle on the other side to pop out. This handle is wound clockwise to retract the measure. It is marked: PATENTED (/) MAY 23, 1893.

The Lufkin Board and Log Rule Company of Cleveland, Ohio, began making steel tape measures in 1887 and moved to Saginaw, Mich., in 1892. Fred Buck (1858–1938), the company's general manager, applied for a patent on an extending crank attached to a revolving drum in 1892 and received it the next year. He received a second patent for a tape measure crank in 1907 that was advertised on the Reliable Junior product line by 1916. By 1903, Lufkin was the largest manufacturer of steel measuring tapes in the United States. The brand was taken over by Cooper Industries in 1967. The donor found this particular rule in a trapper's cabin in the mountains of British Columbia.

This wooden rule is divided along the top edge to 1/16" and numbered by ones from 1 to 14. A brass straight edge is fastened behind the scale. Both long edges are beveled. A hole for hanging the ruler is drilled through the left end of the ruler. The center front is marked: E. FABER. (/) U. S. A. The back is engraved in script: Wm. R. Maxon. Compare to 1987.0634.03.

Eberhard Faber's company made pencils and other office supplies in New York City from 1861 until 1956, when manufacturing moved to Wilkes-Barre, Penn. A. W. Faber-Castell acquired the company in 1987.

According to the accession file, William R. Maxon was the curator of plants at the National Museum of Natural History from 1899 to 1946. He used this rule in his botanical research.

This four-fold boxwood rule has a brass round joint at the center and two brass hinges. It is two feet long when unfolded. One side has a scale of inches divided to 1/8" and numbered by ones from 23 to 1. One arm is marked: No 651B LUFKIN RULE CO. The other arm is marked: 1681 MADE IN U.S.A. PAT'D 12–3–18.

The other side has a scale of inches divided to 1/16" and numbered by ones from 23 to 1. One arm is marked: WARRANTED BOXWOOD. The other arm is marked: N.Y.C. APP. TYPE 352 SERIAL E 2.

Initially a manufacturer of boards for measuring timber and then of steel measuring tapes, the Lufkin Rule Company took that name in 1885 and moved from Cleveland, Ohio, to Saginaw, Mich., in 1895. By 1903 Lufkin was the largest manufacturer of steel measuring tapes in the United States. Around 1915 the firm began importing boxwood folding rules from central Europe and made the rules itself once World War I cut off its supplies. While Lufkin had a model 651 (formerly 68) that it advertised from the early 20th century into the 1950s, model 651B only began to appear in 1916 and disappeared by 1925. Twelve of these rules sold for $2.50 in 1916.

Lufkin president Fred Buck received the patent noted on the instrument for an improvement to the joint. Thus, this rule dates between 1918 and 1925. Cooper Industries purchased the company in 1967, closing its factories but preserving Lufkin as a brand name. An earlier Lufkin rule is 1985.0817.01.

This three-foot wooden rule was sold as part of a set of instruments for blackboard use. It is divided to 1/8" along one edge and numbered in red for feet and in black for inches. A horizontal handle in the center of the rule assists with positioning it against the blackboard, and a round hole at the right end is for hanging the instrument. The lower right corner is marked: DIETZGEN (/) MADE IN U.S.A. (/) 1298-B.

The Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago began numbering its blackboard drawing instruments individually by 1910, when it priced the four pieces at $1.25 each or $5.00 for the set. However, through at least 1938, the handle on the ruler was shaped like a knob, not as a horizontal bar. For related object, see 1999.0117.02.

This five-inch portion of a clear plastic ruler has a scale of inches along the top, divided to 1/16", numbered by ones from 8 to 11 inside a 3X8 grid at each inch and numbered by ones from 2 to 5 below the grid. The bottom edge has a centimeter scale divided to millimeters and numbered by ones from 1 to 12. The rule is marked: C-THRU RULER COMPANY (/) Hartford, Conn. U.S.A. The C-Thru logo with the company name and a ruler inside a circle is to the left of the mark. The bottom edge and left and right ends have been cut into points.

Teacher Jennie Zachs established the C-Thru Ruler Company in Hartford in 1939. The firm was acquired by Acme United Corporation in 2012 and continues to make transparent drafting tools and drawing instruments, including model W-30. The donor, Sebastian J. Tralongo (1928–2007), served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and then worked for the Vitro Corporation in Rockville, Md., for 35 years. He patented a device for signaling from deeply submerged submarines. The object was received with several other drawing instruments in a wooden box, 1984.1071.13.

This aluminum bar, with an X-shaped cross-section, is a replica of the platinum international meter prototype housed in Paris and used as a standard for the metric system from 1889 to 1960. On one side, the lower left corner is marked: A.27. The upper right corner is marked: B.27. Like an actual meter standard, the bar is 102 centimeters long and there are marks 1 centimeter from each end on this side to show the precise length of a meter. Compare to 2000.0126.25.

A rectangular walnut case is lined with black felt. A brass plate on the top of the case is marked: REPLICA METER BAR (/) Presented to (/) BENJAMIN L. PAGE (/) Metrologist (/) National Bureau of Standards (/) On the occasion of his retirement (/) December 29, 1961.

Benjamin Lorenzo Page (1894–1977) began working with length standards at the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) around 1920. He was presented with this replica when he retired. His widow, Helen (Bell) Page, then gave it to one of his colleagues, Rolland Ackermann (1905–1985).

References: Catalog of Artifacts on Display in the NBS Museum, edited by H. L. Mason, NBSIR 76-1125 (Washington, D.C., 1977), 17; Robert P. Crease, World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement (New York: W. W. Norton, 2011), 223; Herbert Arthur Klein, The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey (reprint, New York: Dover, 1988), 185; "Benjamin Lorenzo 'Ben' Page," http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=35098794; Calibrations of the Line Standards of Length of the National Bureau of Standards, by Lewis V. Judson and Benjamin L. Page, RP743, Bureau of Standards Journal of Research 11 (July-December 1933).